This is what the LORD Almighty says: "It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?" declares the LORD Almighty. – Zechariah 8:6

Today's Scripture Reading (October 10, 2023): Zechariah 8

Do you have any cherished memories from your childhood? I sometimes feel sorry for those who do not have any memories that come from their childhood, or at least no good ones, because it is in our childhood that we experience things with a genuine sense of wonder. In our younger years, simple things were received with genuine amazement. Have you ever returned to the house of a grandparent you had visited when you were young? What might seem like an enormous house to our young minds is often a source of disappointment when we find out that the home is really very average to our adult minds.

One of the memories of my childhood amazement was the day I discovered peripheral vision. It was a fantastic moment of discovery when I found that what I was looking at was only part of the story. I had the phenomenal ability to focus my sight on a chair and still see the couch and the coffee table, which sat over in the corner of the room. Just a mundane discovery? Not when you are young. My peripheral vision became a game I would play. I would sit and stare at something and then try to see how many other things I could make out without changing my focus. For a preschool kid, it was terrific.

It is something that I still try to do. Right now, my focus is on my computer. Still, I am also very aware of the bookcases off to my left, the television sitting in the corner, more bookcases, a couple of chairs, and my phone sitting next to the computer beside a Diet Coke. There is more, but none of it feels as extraordinary as this sight did the first time I learned that I had the superpower. When you are young, everything is wonderful, and you struggle with what might be possible for someone to do. It is a sense that I hope we never forget as the new and novel become old and not quite as remarkable as they might have been when we were young and first noticed them.

For the returning exiles, Jerusalem lay in ruins. The city had been destroyed to the point that it seemed impossible that the city could ever be restored. And yet, that is precisely what God and his prophets promised would happen. To the remnant who had returned home, it seemed like a marvelous thing and an impossible event. But God reminds him that they are like children, marveling at the little things happening around them. But God saw things from a different perspective. The promise of the impossible might seem marvelous to the people, but it wasn't marvelous or impossible to God. To God, it was a simple thing he had done before and was ready to do again.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Zechariah 9